The Fugees opened the BET Awards Tuesday night, surprising a star-studded audience at Los Angeles' Kodak Theater with three songs, "Ready or Not," "Fu-Gee-La" and "Killing Me Softly With His Song." The unannounced set was the fulfillment of the promise Pras Michel made Rolling Stone last month when he said of future performances, "We're just gonna show up."

The trio of Wyclef Jean, Lauryn Hill and Pras had audience members on their feet throughout the three songs, and the overwhelming support found Pras a bit humbled. "Just to see your peers standing up for us was incredible," he said afterwards. "We've been out for a while and haven't had anything for a while, so it felt great, man."

According to Pras, the performance will fuel the Fugees reunion album -- the long-awaited follow-up to 1996's The Score, which became the best-selling hip-hop album ever -- planned for release next year. "We working on music -- it's in the works," Pras said. "This is definitely gonna pump our inspiration and get the juices going."

As for the new album's sound, expect the Fugees to be true to their past. "You're not gonna hear no crunk or no down south," Pras said. "You're gonna hear Fugee vibe."

Among the awards show's other highlights were Lifetime Achievement Award winner Gladys Knight, who did soaring renditions of classic hits like "Midnight Train to Georgia" and "If I Were Your Woman," and duets by R&B legend Stevie Wonder and new sensation John Legend, as well as crunk diva Ciara and rapper Ludacris. In one of their final television appearances, best-group winners Destiny's Child provided some sizzle by giving Nelly, basketball legend Magic Johnson and actor Terrence Howard lap dances as going-away presents.